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I did very much get the feeling that Sharon and Tamura were a couple, in a way which was very commonplace, and kind of understated, in that the anime didn't make a big deal of that but made it something you might pick up on or not.
I think that was really well done.

I thought this might be the case too, well it would be nice to have this sort of relationship in this series and it's not for fanservice purposes.

A boy trapped in a man's body. I think that's a pretty apt description for Muta.

At the same time he's already full of regret and he isn't even halfway past 30. It's understandable to have such a lofty dream only to have reality push you down when it feels convenient, and far more easy to give up and just go with the flow. Chasing a dream is harder than most people think, and these two episodes make that fact apparently somewhat brutal with Muta's brooding soliloquies.

But life tossed him a bone to catch up and, maybe one day, gain one step ahead of his brother. In the first episode I think it was very fitting they didn't show his face when his acceptance letter arrived. Indeed, I don't think any sort of animation can accurately picture the face of a person given a second chance at making their dreams come true.

For episode 2, well, looks like we have our main cast more or less. I also have that habit of fiddling with my chair, or most anything for that matter, since I can't help it if I feel something's wrong.

Definitely a strong and very down to earth introductory episodes. Can't wait for episode 3.

I really appreciate the atmopshere of this anime. In a way it is serious and funny at the same time. Realistic too and it is a refreshing change. Is it just me, or does it also have an old school feeling about it?

I remember I wanted to become an astronaut when I was 8 years old and my mother cooled my ambitions by telling me, that women cant be astronauts. I wonder why she even bothered to burst my phantasy bubble..... most kids have crazy career ideas when they are kids and then they grow up, right? And my dream of becoming an astronaut took a sharp dip with my moms words. And maybe thats why I think it is really neat they made one of the austronauts a woman. It goes with the modern times and makes me feel good too.

It just goes to show that it doesn't matter if someone screws around with you so long as you've got your head screwed on the right way.

To be sure, though, I remember reading that those with "the right stuff" to be astronauts tend not to be mavericks. Rather, they tend to be people who remain extremely calm under pressure, a quality that comes with experience no doubt, but some naturally fare better than others. However, they also tend to be anal-retentive, with a keen eye for details. I suppose that's what the interview was designed to discover.

Those you who have never seen Philip Kaufman's excellent film The Right Stuff, based on a book by Tom Wolfe, might want to give it a look. It recounts the story of the original seven US astronauts from their early days as test pilots through the orbital missions of John Glenn and Gordon Cooper. It actually opens a decade before the Mercury program began with a depiction of Chuck Yeager's flight that first broke the sound barrier. The cast is excellent, and I had my first screen crush in quite a while watching Barbara Hershey portray Yeager's wife Glennis. The horseback riding scene with Hershey and Sam Shepard as Yeager near the start of the movie is beautifully directed and subtly erotic.

Test pilots clearly had to be "calm under pressure" since the chances were good that they would crash and burn. As I recall the odds were about one in six (!) that a test pilot would not return. Both the book and the movie spend a lot of time with the men's wives who spent their days out on the high desert cringing in fear that they would become widows.

I like how they weave in the flashbacks to a young Mutta to the present-day Mutta striving to find his path. It does say a lot about him that he'd pick the trumpet, which is the hardest of those to initially play. Hibito picking the guitar would be something I expected, and Aunt Sharon's choice of the piano also says a lot about her too.

I really liked the "loose screw" test and how Mutta managed to partially re-screw it back in. It is looking like he, and a few other new characters might have the inside track to become astronauts.

I'm really pleased that this series is doing pretty good in the ratings(2nd episode got nearly 4% which is around what Beezlebub did and isn't far behind Hunter X Hunter's ratings).

Next episode which is later today, shows Mutta have to deal with the physical exams. Interesting to see how he fares with those.

Just watched the first episode. As an older brother that is doing his best to stay ahead of his very talented younger brother this episode felt specially painful and joyful at the same time to watch. Excellent. Excellent series. I'm completely in.

It's kind of funny how it's a role reversal here. Most of the time it's the younger brother who lives in the shadow of the elder brother, and in Eastern Asian cultures the eldest brother is placed under a lot of pressure to be the one who excels and continues on the family lineage and prestige. Here in episode 3 it's Muta who lives under the shadow of his younger brother, and everyone else has their preconceptions about him and what he will be able to do. Muta's fears are understandable since there's a lot of (unfair?) expectations placed on him, and his age and fitness relative to the younger applicants will of course make it more difficult for him.

So far I'm liking how they manage to include Muta and Hibito's shared memories of their childhood that really shows the difference between the dreams of youth and the demands of reality. I doubt Muta ever thought that the dream he wants to achieve would be this hard when he was a kid, but he clearly has the drive to succeed.

The lung capacity test in episode three is cribbed directly from The Right Stuff. The testing in that movie has some really hilarious moments, particularly the scene where the candidates have to provide sperm samples.

For those who thought this was a kids show, I point to the opening scene. I wonder how many dads watching with their kids had to try and explain just what it was Mutta was saving for later! Quite an active imagination there, too, Mutta-san.

Placing the roses in a strategic location during the doctor's examination was one thing, but placing them over Mutta's butt later on was hilarious.

I like how Serika is drawn as a rather ordinary looking, though still attractive, woman. Too often a character like this would be much more beautiful and thus less realistic. I must say, though, if one of the guys would have caught my eye it would have been Kenji, but the tie between Mutta and Serika's father, and their stare-down during the test, make her interest in him more plausible. She must be in remarkable shape to still be doing exercises in her hotel room after a full day of strenuous testing.

I notice that, according to ANN, Sawashiro Miyuki not only voices the adult Serika but also the young Mutta. I've always liked her boy roles starting with Kurenai Shinkarou. Her adult voice is quite pleasant as well.

I was happy to see them give the older-brother/younger-brother meme a rest in this episode. I understand what Meo says above about the importance of birth order in Asian cultures, but the "I must get ahead of Hibito" refrain got a bit old by the end of episode two.

I'm guessing Mutta, Kenji, and Serika will all pass; as I recall there's only room for one more? Maybe one of the twenty-somethings?

The lung capacity test in episode three is cribbed directly from The Right Stuff.

The Right Stuff is one of my favourite movies and i immediately spotted that with some glee. I would imagine today there'd be more sophisticated equipment than a tube full of liquid and a ping pong ball!

Ah, and my favorite panel, too -- Bill Cullen, Betsy Palmer, Henry Morgan, and Bess Myerson. Bill hosted a number of game shows himself, and Bess later had a career in New York City politics. She was also the first Jew to win the Miss America Pageant. Henry had an ascerbic wit and was a good foil for the more mainstream personalities like moderator Garry Moore and Palmer. Betsy was a B-actress who was probably more famous for appearing on Secret than for her stage and screen roles.

I wish Garry had pushed Betsy a little on how she knew the right answer. As he mentioned, she often acted like a ditzy blonde, though she was probably a pretty sharp cookie.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Utsuro no Hako

And it's not just the same test -- the entire scene is straight from the film, even down to the nurse administering the test and the room they're in.

Yes, I was pretty sure that the nurse was cribbed from the movie as well, though I didn't remember the room. The two guys left at the end were John Glenn, played by Ed Harris, and Scott Carpenter, played by Charles Frank. All these actors were pretty much nobodies when the film premiered in 1983. I suspect they were chosen more for their physical similarities to the actual astronauts, and being relative unknowns helped the audience suspend disbelief. Many of them like Harris, Scott Glenn, Lance Henrikson, and Dennis Quaid became more famous in the years that followed the film. Harris's excellent portrayal of John McCain in the recent HBO movie Game Change shows he still has the "right stuff."